Q: What is The Quote Garden?Short A: Lots of free quotes! Browse by topic, or search.Long A: This is my personal, lifelong collection of literary quotations categorized into over 500 subjects, which I share with the world in hopes of providing inspiration, motivation, laughter, food for thought, emotions and memories, and to offer the beauty and love of words to all.Quote A: “I have spent hours, days, weeks, in searching among books which are rare, and not easily read, so that to those who have not time, nor inclination to search for themselves, I may reveal hidden delights and buried joys.... In my study I have learnt much; it is a labour of love, and ungrudgingly I give it to the world.” ~Helen Rose Anne Milman Crofton, 1903

Q: Are all the quotes verified?Short A: No, there are likely some mistakes, please tell me if you find one.Long A: The quotations on this site are from various sources, including many submitted by visitors and some collected by me when I was just a naïve junior-high-school kid with a pencil and notebook, and not all have been verified for original source so wordings and attributions might be wrong. Reporting of errors is greatly appreciated! Please see “How do I contact you?” below. I know that youth and inexperience are no‑good excuses; however, I am slowly but surely correcting as much as I can, as well as noting any context issues. A lifetime of collecting is going to take some time to update, but I will get there. I humbly thank you for your patience and understanding. No one is as anxious as I am to get to a 100% accurate site, for sure!Quote A¹: “Quotation, n.: The act of repeating erroneously the words of another. The words erroneously repeated.” ~Ambrose Bierce, 1911Quote A²: “The problem with internet quotes is that you cannot always depend on their accuracy.” ~Benjamin Franklin, 1789

Q: What are the rules for using the quotes?Short A: Sorry, there is not a good short answer for this one. Quote with respect, use your best judgment, and read the long answer.Long A: The main goal of this site is to share my personal collection of quotations with the world, so of course, please feel free to use some but with the following cautions in mind.
My creative work of compiling and categorizing the quotes is copyrighted. However, the quotations themselves do not belong to me. If you are going to use a quote from this site, you will need to use your own best judgment.
If you are planning to use a quote in a publication, commercial product, etc., you might need to request permission from the author or publishing company or do further research on the accuracy and origin of the quote. Unfortunately, I am unable to help with decisions and questions on permissions as I am not an expert on copyright laws. It is possible, however, on some of the quotations that I might have more detailed information on the source or author in my private notes, so feel free to contact me if you need assistance on that part and I will be glad to help if I can.
I do not have authority to grant permission on behalf of other authors. Many thousands of the quotes on my site I asked permission to use and when doing so was given approval for posting specifically on quotegarden.com and sometimes with various conditions, such as a hyperlink or copyright symbol. This is one of the reasons I am unable to allow my collection to be used elsewhere, such as a quotation database for mobile apps or other sites.
I therefore ask that you do not copy the entire site or large portions of it, as doing so would disrespect the authors and me as well. Quotegarden.com is an original compilation encompassing nearly 30 years of very long hours, sleepless nights, hard work, blood, sweat, tears, heart, soul, ink, and lost youth.
I am also unable to grant permission to translate the quotes, as this would need to be routed through the authors or publishing houses as well.
I make frequent updates, modifications, and corrections to the site, and I am passionate about maintaining it as a living, breathing online collection that is easily and quickly correctable with accuracy of content as up-to-date as possible.
Please remember when quoting in general to attribute the original author or indicate when the author is unknown, and to always quote with respect. I, as well as authors around the world, thank you for this — you are a responsible quotizen!
Lastly, if you use some quotes from my garden and would like to credit the site, feel free to do so — it is appreciated but certainly not required.Quote A¹: “I have gathered a posie of other men’s flowers and nothing but the thread which binds them is my own.” ~Michel de Montaigne (1533–1592)Quote A²: “What is right is often forgotten by what is convenient.” ~Bodie Thoene, 1991

Q: Can you answer my copyright questions?Short A: No.Long A: Sorry, I cannot provide advice or answer questions on copyright issues. The most frequently asked question I get is on copyright and permissions, from people working on projects to be published. If you need permission to use a particular quote, that request would need to go through the original author or the publishing company. I am not familiar with the copyright guidelines for using individual quotations in published materials such as greeting cards, calendars, books, etc. Some cases might be covered under fair use, but if in doubt you will probably want to request permission, contact an expert (intellectual property lawyer, publisher, or editor, perhaps), or not use the quote. Some older works might now be in the public domain, but even some of the older items have certain exceptions. The rules also vary per country; most of what I mention here is relevant to the United States. To learn more, visit the U.S. Copyright Office’s extensive FAQ at copyright.gov or search Google for copyright, fair use (U.S.A.), fair dealing (international), or public domain. There is also a detailed chart “Copyright Term and the Public Domain in the United States” by Peter B. Hirtle at the Cornell Copyright Information Center, see: http://copyright.cornell.edu/resources/publicdomain.cfm. See also this great article on fair use by Rich Stim: http://fairuse.stanford.edu/overview/fair-use/four-factors
What do I do, you ask? I try to follow my own advice and simply use my best judgment regarding works on this site. Anthologies of short quotations — for the most part — seem to fall under fair use and to my understanding (in our “real” unwritten-rules world, not necessarily in the legal world, and don’t quote me on this) are complaint-based, i.e. don’t make anyone upset enough to complain about you using their words; however, printed materials for sale or distribution or anything irrevocably broadcast to a large audience, anything that is less easily rectified, are quite different matters and the “rules” become heavier and more complex. And so now I’m just rambling on through my ignorance regarding an important part of my own field, which is not only embarrassing but I also began this answer stating that I can’t advise on such issues, so I’ll just zip it and say in short — which truly is the extent of my knowledge and experience on the matter:
Be courteous and honest, do your research, request permission whenever possible, and usually all goes well. Some good common sense checks would include: Be certain you’re using the quotation in the proper context, that you’ve attributed the correct person, that you have the correct and complete wording, that you’re not hindering that person’s ability to make a living, and that you’re not wrongly casting that person in a bad light. When quoting, as in all other areas of life, you’ve just got to be a good human being about it. Bow a literary namaste to authors, practice proper quote karma, and if you get turned down by anyone particularly stingy about it, make your peace with it and move along. There’s always something better. Gosh, this is turning into an entire quoter’s philosophy. If only copyright were as lenient as metaphysics. Quotaphysics. Quotaphilosophy. Okay, I’m done. For real. Thanks for making it to the end of this answer.Quote A: “All my best thoughts were stolen by the ancients.” ~Attributed to Ralph Waldo Emerson

Q: How do I report an error?Short A: Please email me, see “How do I contact you?” below.Quote A: “It is very easy to forgive others their mistakes; it takes more grit to forgive them for having witnessed your own.” ~Jessamyn West, c.1964

Q: Is this site appropriate for all ages?Short A: No.Long A: Opinions differ on what is appropriate for various ages, but please be warned that there are a few quotes, categories, and possibly advertisements on this site containing language or themes that some might find offensive for any age or inappropriate for younger audiences.Quote A¹: “The fact is that censorship always defeats its own purpose, for it creates, in the end, the kind of society that is incapable of exercising real discretion.” ~Henry Steele Commager, c.1953Quote A²: “One man’s frankness is another man’s vulgarity.” ~Kevin Smith

Q: Do you agree with all the quotes?Short A: No.Long A: I do agree with many of them, yes, which is one reason I added them to my collection. Some of them do not coincide with my personal viewpoints, but I still like them because they are beautifully worded or they make a good point or give me an occasional well‑needed jab to my own beliefs, which we should all question and re‑evaluate now and then. In some instances, I’ll post a quote for its historical value, for example to show how far we have come over the years regarding social issues. Even though I don’t agree with all of it, every quotation here has some reason (and sometimes that reason might be that I was 13 at the time and my immature brain liked it, unknowing that my later forty-something brain would wonder what I was thinking at the time). The deciding factor is whether the words do something for me — do they make me laugh or think or learn or feel! Do they make me giddy and glow with appreciation for the magnificent art of language.Quote A¹: “There are truths on this side of the Pyrénées, which are falsehoods on the other.” ~Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)Quote A²: “One should examine oneself for a very long time before thinking of condemning others.” ~Molière (c.1622–1673)Quote A³: “I love the swirl and swing of words as they tangle with human emotions.” ~James A. Michener, 1985Quote A⁴: “Almost every wise saying has an opposite one, no less wise, to balance it...” ~George Santayana, 1906

Q: May I link to your site?Short A: Yes.Long A: Of course you may link to me! You can use a text link to the homepage or any individual pages, or there are linking images if you prefer. Please note, however, that I do not participate in link exchanges.Quote A: “A journey of a thousand sites begins with a single click.” ~Author Unknown

Q: Will you link to my site?Short A: Probably not.Long A: I do not participate in link exchanges. The few links I do have on my site are to my favorite quotation sites and some in acknowledgment of those who have helped me. If you are the author of a quote on my site and would like me to link your attribution to your website, please email me. See “How do I contact you?” below.Quote A: “One of the Internet’s strengths is its ability to help consumers find the right needle in a digital haystack of data.” ~Jared Sandberg, 1998

Q: Can I advertise on your site?Short A: Yes, using Google AdWords.Long A: Yes, thanks. Advertising is essential in helping me pay to keep the site running. Currently I can only accept advertising through Google AdWords. Use an existing account or sign up at http://adwords.google.com. You can have your ads on this site and other sites within minutes.Quote A: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you are doing, but nobody else does.” ~Author unknown, c.1917

Q: Can I submit a quote?Short A: No.Long A: I’m very sorry, but I had to stop accepting quotation submissions. Unfortunately, there just aren’t enough hours in the day (or even the night) for me to keep up with this.Quote A¹: “If there’s a book you really want to read but it hasn’t been written yet, then you must write it.” ~Toni Morrison (b.1931)Quote A²: “As the bus slowed down at the crowded bus stop, the Pakistani bus conductor leaned from the platform and called out, ‘Six only!’ The bus stopped. He counted on six passengers, rang the bell, and then, as the bus moved off, called to those left behind: ‘So sorry, plenty of room in my heart — but the bus is full.’” ~The Friendship Book of Francis Gay, 1977

Q: What is your citation information?Short A: www.quotegarden.comLong A: Below is the website information for citations, if you need it for a works cited list or bibliography. Please keep in mind that some quotes on this site have not been verified. It’s always best in scholarly writing to quote from the original source whenever possible. As much as I’d love for it to be handier in this respect, The Quote Garden is only meant to be casual enjoyment for word lovers, not an academic reference.
- Author, editor name: Terri Guillemets
- Website title: The Quote Garden
- Original date of publication: 1998 March 18th
- Date of most recent update: see bottom of each page
- URL: http://www.quotegarden.com
- Print version: none
- Sponsor: none
- Author affiliation: none
- Publisher: self-published
- Place of publication: Phoenix, Arizona, USAQuote A: “Now let us come to the Citation of Authors, which other Books have, and thine wanteth; the Remedy hereof is very easy; for thou needest do nought else but seek out a Book, that doth quote them all, from the Letter A, until Z, as thou saidst thyself but even now, and thou shalt set that very same Alphabet to thine own Book. For altho' the little Necessity that thou hadst to use their Assistance in thy Work, will presently convict thee of Falshood, it makes no matter, and perhaps there may not a few be found so simple, as to believe that thou hast holp thyself in the Narration of thy most simple and sincere History, with all their Authorities. And tho' that large Catalogue of Authors do serve to none other purpose, yet will it at least give some Authority to the Book at the first Blush; and the rather, because none will be so mad as to stand to examine whether thou dost follow them or no, seeing they can gain nothing by the Matter.” ~Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547–1616), "The Author's Preface to the Reader," The History of the Valorous and Witty Knight-Errant, Don Quixote of the Mancha, translated from Spanish by Thomas Shelton

Q: Who are you?Short A: Terri GuillemetsLong A: I’ve been called the quote gardener, word harvester, Bookworm of The Quote Garden, a quotographer, quotesmith, quote addict, quotation enthusiast, a blossoming quotation scholar, quotemaster, and quotemistress. But you can just call me Terri. And if you are so inclined you can view my profile here.Quote A: “Most collectors collect tangibles. As a quotation collector, I collect wisdom, life, invisible beauty, souls alive in ink.” ~Terri Guillemets, 2004

Q: Are you on Facebook?Short A: No.Long A: I am not on Facebook, LinkedIn, Google+, Instagram, Foursquare, or YouTube, nor do I have an iPhone app or any other mobile apps. And yes, I do realize this places me somewhere in the middle of the Dark Ages. I’m not frequently active on the social sites, but I try to keep up as well as I can. Below are the places you can find me posting on occasion:
- Blog: quotegarden-terri.blogspot.com
- Flickr: flickr.com/photos/quotegarden
- Pinterest: pinterest.com/guillemets
- Tumblr: quotegarden-terri.tumblr.com
- Twitter: twitter.com/quotegardenQuote A: “The Internet is just a world passing around notes in a classroom.” ~Jon Stewart

Q: Where can I view your writings?Short A:Inkpots & DaydreamsLong A: Thank you so much to all of you who have requested over the years that my writings be available in one place; it is quite flattering. I’ve started a new blog called ‘Inkpots & Daydreams’ where I am posting selected journal entries, poetry excerpts, etc. Bear with me, as it will take some time to complete. You can view the ongoing progress here: terriguillemets.blogspot.comQuote A: “There is no effect more disproportionate to its cause than the happiness bestowed by a small compliment.” ~Robert Brault

Q: What is the history of The Quote Garden?Short A: Digging up quotes since 1986, online since 1998.Long A:The Quote Garden began in 1986 when I was 13 years old and read The Scarlet Letter for English class. As I was reading, I noticed some sentences that I really liked and wrote them in a spiral notebook as I went along. And that is where my passion for quotations began, with Mr Nathaniel Hawthorne. At that time, I had no idea that this quoting behavior existed outside the realm of junior high school literature homework, nor that anyone else had a habit for collecting such things. It was shortly thereafter when I saw the “Quotable Quotes” page in a Reader’s Digest at my grandparents’ house that I realized I wasn’t the only one. From Hester Prynne on, I obsessively wrote down any short excerpts I liked from my readings. In early 1998 I began sharing my collection with the world by starting a site on GeoCities and learning basic HTML. Both the site and my obsession for quotes grew quickly with this new platform for sharing. I started spending nearly all my free time, and quite a bit of time that I should’ve been sleeping, working on the site and reading more and more — a bookworm rooting around in the world’s garden of books to harvest quality quotes — and I fully admit, an occasional weed here and there — from the rich soil of brilliant writers. I sprouted out to my own domain, www.quotegarden.com, in 2001 and continue to this very day maintaining the site by typing every quotation and piece of code from scratch into Notepad, and carrying paper and pen with me everywhere I go in case I see anything quotable! Believe it or not, I have yet to finish placing my entire collection online; there are still thousands of quote-scribbled scraps of paper, torn-edged articles with highlighting, dog-eared old books, etc. scattered all over which I will eventually get around to posting. (If for whatever odd reason you’re truly interested in the full history with dates, I keep a brief site timeline here, for my records.)Quote A: “There is a very fine line between ‘hobby’ and ‘mental illness.’” ~Dave Barry, Dave Barry Turns Fifty, 1998

Q: What happened to Quotations That Make a Statement?Short A: I closed it in 2000.Long A: I merged Quotations That Make a Statement along with Quoterrific! into The Quote Garden in May 2000. Just not enough time to keep up with all of it! I’ve added a screen-shot archive of the homepage, along with some other nostalgia in a Picasa web album — if you’d like to take a stroll down memory lane, click here. QTMAS was the first website with an option to display quotations based on a Q&A format (e.g. “What is the purpose of life?” or “Am I in love?”). Visitors could also browse by purpose (“Make me laugh”), as well as by category.Quote A: “Sometimes I feel that life is passing me by, not slowly either, but with ropes of steam and spark-spattered wheels and a hoarse roar of power or terror. It’s passing, yet I’m the one who’s doing all the moving.” ~Martin Amis, 1984

Q: What happened to Quotable Tattoo?Short A: I am changing it, please check back soon.Long A:Quotable Tattoo, which I began in May 2002, was the first online gallery specifically for tattoos related to quotations. I closed it in May 2010 because I didn’t have time to maintain it. However, I am currently in the process of transferring it to an easier-to-maintain blog format. Hopefully it will be done soon. If you’re looking for some inspiration and pretty pictures in the meantime, check out my Quotation Tattoos board on Pinterest.Quote A: “Nothing is so fatiguing as the eternal hanging on of an uncompleted task.” ~William James, 1886

Q: Where do you get all these quotes?Short A: Anywhere and everywhere!Long A: The quotations in my collection are pretty much from everywhere you can think of. I carry pen and paper with me at all times and to every place I go, to capture any quotables. Over the past three decades I’ve harvested quotes from: novels, textbooks, movies, television shows, newspapers, magazines, advertisements, friends, family, coworkers, submissions from visitors to the site, songs, old books of quotation compilations, library books, new books, fortune cookies, personal conversations, online articles, blogs, tweets, food packaging, letters, email messages, poems, sports broadcasts, stand-up comedy, bathroom-wall “philosophy,” speeches, newsletters, and sometimes I even quote myself from my own journals, writings, meditations, and dreams — shameless, ain’t I‽ Occasionally I ask to borrow quotes from other online quotation anthologists as well (these are indicated by an acknowledgement on the page). I also follow Garson O’Toole and Barry Popik; often the quotations they research I don’t have and if I like one of the quotes, I might “borrow” it. The good thing about that is at least I know up front about accuracy. Thanks, gentlemen! (See my Links page for those and other quotation resources.)
A few years ago I was out hiking one morning, and while sitting at the top of the mountain at sunrise I heard a gentleman in a nearby group repeat a quote he remembered an old professor using, and I wrote it down straight away. So I even get them from strangers overheard in conversation! It’s a great way to make friends out of strangers, by the way — asking to quote someone.
Probably the oddest story behind any of my quotation harvests: Many years ago my doctor said something that really struck a chord with me, during an exam, so as soon as she left the room — while I was still in my paper gown — I wrote down what she had said. But then I didn’t get a chance to ask her permission to post it, and the next year when I called for an appointment I found out that she had retired and moved out of state. So I just held onto that piece of paper in my to-be-posted folder. Years later, I came across it and after doing some online research found an address I thought might be hers so I took a chance and mailed a letter. It did turn out to be her, and she wrote back giving me her approval to post the words to my site. I was overjoyed.
I love picking out brilliant and beautiful words wherever I happen across them. I have a particular fondness for writings from past centuries, especially the 1800s — the language they used back then really strikes me. And now with Google Books it is so much easier and healthier than flipping through the dust and mildew of real books from centuries past! What’s über-exciting to me is to find beautifully written excerpts from old books that aren’t on any other public website. I find great joy in reviving these literary gems.
Starting about 2008, approximately 85% of the quotations I added to the site were “new” to the Web — meaning zero results from a Google search at time of posting, and as of 2013 that number now regularly approaches 95%. I’ve become more passionate about my quotation collecting hobby with each passing year, and now with more focus than ever on context, accuracy, attributions, and vintage authors I’m convinced that this is meant to fulfill part of my life’s destiny: to revive the words of the past for the generations of the present, and to preserve those amazing words for artists, lovers, readers, and leaders of the future. I’ll ruin myself for it, the neverending pursuit of finding every masterpiece fragment of words worth quoting. Here I am, wrapped head to toe in a beautiful garland of quotations and family, standing in the sun, barefoot in the cool green grass, looking upward in thanks.Quote A¹: “So our student will flit like a busy bee through the entire garden of literature, light on every blossom, collect a little nectar from each, and carry it to his hive...” ~Desiderius Erasmus (1469–1536)Quote A²: “I even shower with my pen, in case any ideas drip out of the waterhead.” ~Terri Guillemets, 2006

Q: There are lots of quote sites out there. What makes you different?Long A: There didn’t used to be a lot of quote sites when I first started — there were only a few of us, with a genuine interest in quotations and each with our own focus and personality. As people have realized the ease of copy and paste, the number of quote sites has exploded, especially these past few years. Here is what makes The Quote Garden different:
1. The most original content of any quotation site on the Web. I write quite a bit of my own content, as well as posting items from friends and family. And these last few years I’ve been dedicated to adding mostly items that aren’t already online.
2. My specialty is finding vintage quotes in forgotten literature and writings from the 1800s.
3. The Quote Garden was the first website to have a large selection of special occasion quotes — holidays, events, sentiments, etc., as well as current events and social causes.
4. Dozens of exclusive categories — “first of the Web” — that have since spread far and wide, for example: tooth fairy, Día de los Muertos, cancer support, crayons, screen-free week, best friends, gasoline prices, donate life, drive safely, firefighter appreciation, social anxiety, yearbook, etc.
5. There’s no fancy database automatically populating pages. I list quotes the old-fashioned way — hand-picked, in an order that makes sense to me, added one at a time over the years. I like to make it feel more like reading a book rather than picking through random quotes one by one. This is an anthology that I hope feels like reading a special kind of literature — the inspirational mixed with the funny mixed with the thought-provoking... a literary collage of feelings and thoughts.
6. I am striving for as much accuracy as possible, and I ’fess up to my mistakes. Yes, I have quite a few errors to clean up from my early years of not always verifying sources and wordings, but I am working hard to do that — it will just take some time to get there. And I no longer post new items without spending as many hours as it takes to find the original, if at all possible.
7. Lots of quotation resources to help you find and learn about quotes. In addition to quotations, there are also resources to learn about quotes and quote collecting, as well as links to other quotation sites and information. You can check this out on the Links page.
8. I care. Quotation collecting is my biggest passion, other than family, and I’ve been doing it for about 30 years. This site didn’t just pop up overnight. It has grown slowly to what it is today. I have put many thousands of hours of research and hard work and heart and soul into this collection. The quote sites that can honestly claim the same can be counted on a single hand. I love words. I love old books. I love what I do. I love sharing it with the world. And I will never, ever stop.Quote A: “If people copy your work, that’s their karma. No one can copy you — your energy, your essence, your light.” ~Aine Belton, 2014

Q: Why are you so wordy?Short A: I dunno. I blame my mom. And Nathaniel Hawthorne.Long A: Okay, so no one has really asked this one — yet. But my own rambling and wordiness bother me (obviously, not enough to change) so thought I’d proactively address it. Psychologically: because I never want to leave anything unsaid so I feel compelled to say too much rather than not enough, and also I want to be sure that people know I care so I end up extending myself too far. Call it a weakness of my INFJ character. Linguistically: now you know why I like to use other people’s words rather than my own. I just have a giddy, vermiculated style (I only used that word to make my mom smile; she loves five-syllable words). And just as a grammatical confession, I also tend to overuse (by some people's opinion) parentheses, exclamation points (single only; I'm not that tactless), and em dashes. I confess to it, yes — but no apologies, sorry!Quote A¹: “If you bring that sentence in for a fitting, I can have it shortened by Wednesday.” ~M*A*S*H, Hawkeye Pierce (Gelbart, Reynolds, Hooker, and Heinz), 1975Quote A²: “I have made this longer than usual because I have not had time to make it shorter.” ~Blaise Pascal (1623–1662)